Orlando Paladino

In the Summer of 2009, the British director Nigel Lowery and the Iranian choreographer Amir Hosseinpour brought to the stage of the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden, with colour and full of humour, the fantastic and imaginative adventures of "Racing Roland". On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn, the composer's most renowned opera during his lifetime,Orlando Paladino, was performed, a heroic-comical stage piece based on Ariost's famous Versepos. Singers such as Marlis Petersen (Angelica), Tom Randle (Orlando), Alexandrina Pendatchanska (Alcina), Pietro Spagnoli (Rodomonte), Sunhae Im (Eurilla) and Victor Torres (Pasquale) performed under the musical direction of period-music specialist René Jacobs. The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra completed this high-class production giving the music a beautiful sound and lively swing.

The Metropolitan Opera: Le Nozze Di Figaro

Richard Eyre’s elegant production, which opened the Met’s 2014–15 season, sets the action of Mozart’s timeless social comedy in a manor house in 1930s Seville. Ildar Abdrazakov leads the cast as the resourceful Figaro set on outwitting his master, the philandering Count Almaviva, played by Peter Mattei. Marlis Petersen sings Susanna, the object of the Count’s affection and Figaro’s bride-to-be, Amanda Majeski is the Countess, and Isabel Leonard gives a standout performance as the pageboy Cherubino. Music Director James Levine on the podium brings out all the humor, drama, and humanity of Mozart’s score.

Interrupted Melody

Interrupted Melody is the inspirational filmed biography of world-renowned Australian soprano Marjorie Lawrence. She’s a foremost Wagnerian, equal to the vocal and physical demands of the composer’s oeuvre. And she’s a beacon of triumph to anyone who fights back when personal tragedy strikes.

Acis and Galatea (The Royal Ballet / The Royal Opera)

The Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera collaborate in Wayne McGregor's production of Handel and Gay's classic opera, in which the nymph Galatea falls in love with a shepherd named Acis.

Così fan tutte

Wiener Philharmoniker and Wiener Philharmonia Chor Conducted by Karl Böhm Directed by Vaclav Kaslik

Les enfants de bohème

Idi and Rita live with their grandmother, Manie. Idi tries to keep the memories they have of their mother, by drawing on his school notebook. By the force of their desire, the children keep the link they have to their funny mother, despite the separation.

La pietra del paragone

LA PIETRA DEL PARAGONE (The Touchstone) concerns the Count Asdrubale who is wealthy and therefore of great interest to many women – notably Aspasia, Fulvia, and Clarice. Only Clarice, however, loves him for something other than his riches. There are also male hangers-on: the corrupt journalist Macrobio, the poetaster Pacuvio, and Giocondo, who is Asdrubale's true friend, but who has his own eyes on Clarice. To test his friends and would-be fiancées, Asdrubale pretends that he has been bankrupted. Sure enough, only Clarice and Giocondo stand by him, and when his fortune is "miraculously" saved, the three have the last laugh on everyone else... or do they? This production is set in what looks like the early 1960s. But the real innovation is the use of blue screen technology: using tiny cameras and sets, along gigantic screens hanging over the stage, a kind of video mixing makes the singers appear to inhabit any number of fanciful settings and perform a myriad of improbable actions.

Tancredi

Live performance from Schwetzinger Festspiele, 1992. Based on Voltaire's tragedy, TANCREDI is a story of innocence wronged set against a backdrop of Turks at war with Syracuse. Amenaide, the daughter of Argirio, leader of the senate, is in love with the exiled knight Tancredi. Argirio offers Amenaide's hand in marriage to Orbazzano, the leader of a rival faction, as a token of reconciliation. Amenaide resists this and sends a letter to Tancredi, who is back in Syracuse in hiding. The letter is intercepted, and it is mistaken as an invitation to the Turk Solamir to enter Syracuse. Amenaide is sentenced to death for treachery, but Argirio allows a champion to fight for her vindication... will her beloved Tancredi save her? Bernadette Manca di Nissa, Maria Bayo, and Raul Gimenez star in this Rossini opera with Gianluigi Gelmetti conducting the Radio Symphony Orchester Stuttgart.

La Divina Commedia Opera Musical

The Nutcracker

Clara is given an enchanted Nutcracker doll on Christmas Eve. As midnight strikes, she creeps downstairs to find a magical adventure awaiting her and her Nutcracker. The magician Drosselmeyer transforms the drawing room into a battle between mice and toy soldiers. During the battle, Clara saves the Nutcracker’s life – so breaking a magical spell that turned him from a boy to a toy – and the Mouse King is defeated. In celebration, Drosselmeyer sweeps Clara and the Nutcracker off to the Kingdom of Sweets, where they meet the Sugar Plum Fairy and take part in a wonderful display of dances. The next morning, Clara’s adventures seem to have been more than just a dream.

Lakmé

Opera Australia's 1976 production of Lakmé, an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes, with a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. Set in India during the British Raj, the story focuses on Lakmé, the daughter of a Hindu priest. Lakmé's life is troubled by her infatuation with a British officer.

Don Giovanni

Every woman wants him, every man wants to be him: Mozart’s version of the irresistible rogue who brings excitement with him and leaves destruction it his wake has always attracted top singing actors, as in this performance brilliantly led by James Levine. Samuel Ramey is Don Giovanni, pursued by the incandescent Karita Mattila (Donna Elvira) in her Met debut season and role, and by the white-hot avenging fury of Carol Vaness (Donna Anna.) Ferruccio Furlanetto delivers a masterful comic turn as the Don’s servant, Leporello.

Norma

NORMA tells the tragic story of a supposedly chaste druidic priestess, who is driven to murderous jealousy by her lover's inconstancy. But she forgoes vengeance, protects innocence, and sees to it that the guilty atone for their crimes. Fiorenza Cedolins, Sonia Ganassi, Vincenzo La Scola, and Andrea Papi star in this 2007 Gran Theatre Del Liceu/Grand Theatre de Geneve co-production of the Bellini opera.

Tannhäuser

TANNHÄUSER UND DER SÄNGERKRIEG AUF WARTBURG is a grand opera by Richard Wagner in three acts. After experiencing boundless sensuality and freedom with the fun-loving Venus (soprano), the singer Tannhäuser (Tenor) finds it impossible to conform to the cultured setting of his betrothed Elizabeth (soprano), who loves him. During a singing contest, Tannhäuser describes the affair with Venus as the ultimate love experience and because of that, he is cast out from the established society. Thanks to Elizabeth's intervention, he is allowed to undertake a pilgrimage to the Pope to ask for the Holy Father's pardon. If the Pope accepts to forgive him, he would be allowed to take back his place in society. Tannhäuser accepts. But fate will not allow him to meet with his beloved Elizabeth again in this life. This is a recording of the legendary staging by Götz Friedrich for the 1978 Bayreuth Festival conducted by Sir Colin Davis.

Der Freischütz

The legendary director Ruth Berghaus created this staging of Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz as a gripping theatrical experience for the Zurich Opera in 1993. Its revival in 1999 was a roaring success. With sets by Hartmut Meyer and costumes by Marie-Louise Strandt, Berghaus’ staging avoids the local peasant colour conventionally associated with Weber’s opera. Chorus and orchestra of the Zurich Opera House are conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, universally celebrated for the structural transparency of his interpretations, his intellectual penetration and his emotional understanding of both music and opera plot. And last but not least an all-star cast made this production a highly memorable event: the dramatic soprano Inga Nielsen as Agathe, one of her best roles, the Swedish soprano Malin Hartelius as Ännchen, the sought-after Heldentenor Peter Seiffert, who gives a convincing passionate Max, and many others.

Gallup (Na'nízhoozhí)

Two mystical beings emerge from the scenery, embarking on a journey through Gallup— Na'nízhoozhí in the Navajo language— before melting back into the desert at nightfall.

Bizet: Carmen

Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili gives a dynamic performance as Bizet’s iconic gypsy, the woman who lives by her own rules. Aleksandrs Antonenko is Don José, the soldier who falls under her spell, and Ildar Abdrazakov plays Escamillo, the swaggering bullfighter who takes Carmen away from Don José—an action that seals Carmen’s tragic fate. Anita Hartig is Micaëla, and Pablo Heras-Casado conducts Richard Eyre’s hit production, set in 1930s Spain.

Così fan tutte ossia La scuola degli amanti

Dorothea Roeschmann, Katharina Kammerloher, Hanno Mueller-Brachmann, Werner Guera, Daniela Bruera, and Roman Trekel star in this 2002 Deutsche Staatsoper production of the Mozart opera conducted by Daniel Barenboim.

The Metropolitan Opera: La Bohème

A new generation of rising stars shines in Franco Zeffirelli’s classic production of Puccini’s most popular opera. Vittorio Grigolo is the poor poet Rodolfo who falls head over heels for his neighbor, the seamstress Mimì, sung by the radiant Kristine Opolais. Susanna Phillips is the flirtatious Musetta, Massimo Cavaletti is her sweetheart Marcello, and Patrick Carfizzi as Schaunard and Oren Gradus as Colline complete the ensemble. Stefano Ranzani conducts.

Peter Grimes

This 1969 BBC production is about as close as we can get to a definitive version of Benjamin Britten's PETER GRIMES, one of the greatest 20th Century operas. The story of the individualistic fisherman hounded by his neighbors who believe he murdered his young apprentice packs tremendous emotional power. The compelling narrative is richly enhanced by its subtexts: the lone outsider versus the conformist mob; the dreamer of improbable dreams that lead to tragedy; the artist (dreamer) versus the Philistines, and the homosexual overtones of Grimes' abuse of his child apprentices. Britten is conductor of his work and tenor Peter Pears is Grimes, 25 years after he created the title role at the opera's premiere. As the widow Ellen Orford, soprano Heather Harper is magnificent. Best of all, the sea is an ever-present actor here. When we don't see it in the background it exerts its presence in the abundant visual references to nets, barrels, and other paraphernalia of a seaside fishing village.